EDMONTON - While Rogers Place arena has been scrutinized from the start, information about the area surrounding the new home of the Edmonton Oilers has been murky.

On Thursday, Daryl Katz, team owner and co-developer of the Edmonton Arena District (EAD) made a rare appearance before journalists to reveal new details about a $2.5-billion mega-development that will transform four million square feet (including the arena) of downtown parking lots and one-storey building sites into what he calls the largest mixed-use sports and entertainment project in Canada.

“There’s nothing like this district anywhere in Canada,” said Katz, chairman of the Katz Group which has partnered with WAM Development Group.

“Arguably, there’s nothing like this district anywhere in North America.”

Planning for the district began at the same time as design work started on the arena, with help from consulting company Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG).

Katz said Edmonton’s arena district has already one-upped its Los Angeles counterpart with a little more than $1 billion in projects already under construction and another $1.5-billion worth to start in the next six months.

“We are building more in Phase 1 in Edmonton than they have built to date after 12 or 15 years at L.A. Live,” Katz said.

“We have a world-class sports and entertainment district under construction now in the city and nobody really knows about it.”

Darren Durstling, CEO of WAM, said, “It’s been the quietest $2-billion development of all time.”

The EAD will be built over two phases. The first stage is already underway and its 2.6 million square feet of development around the arena is slated for completion in 2019.

This week, the EAD joint venture announced a 62-storey office and residential tower and future Stantec headquarters will be built on the southeast corner of the parking lot at 102nd Street and 103rd Avenue by 2018.

Construction has begun on a 27-storey office block to house City of Edmonton employees at the site of the former Staples store, at 101st Street and 104th Avenue. It’s expected to open in September 2016.

Durstling said an upscale hotel and luxury residential tower will be built just north of the Stantec tower and across 104th Avenue from Rogers Place. It is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2017. The developers are in discussions with an unidentified hotel group.

“The last (downtown) hotel was built in 1978,” Durstling said. “Edmonton’s looking for quality and it’s time to move up.”

A 55,000-60,000-square- foot casino is slated to go in a building just east of the arena that will also house Oilers and Katz Group offices and a practice rink.

To the west, on the site of the existing Greyhound bus depot, a retail podium will be completed in the first quarter of 2019 with a residential tower opening a few months later.

Durstling said the podium will house entertainment and lifestyle retailers such as a movie theatre, fitness gym, grocery, pharmacy, bank and restaurants.

A 50,000-square-foot public plaza filled with programmed activities and events will be framed by the arena, Stantec tower and the former Greyhound site.

East of the arena, on the high-profile corner of 101st Street and 104th Avenue, plans are still being developed for a “trophy” development.

PHOTO: Plans unveiled for the Edmonton Development District. Click on the circles to see plans for buildings.

A network of plus-15 pedways will connect new and existing buildings while a 2,200-car parking garage will go under the block. The arena will feature 350 underground stalls.

“None of this means anything if people don’t come down and want to live here so we want to have the amenities, the entertainment, the office buildings that attract people during the day, the services from retail to personal services,” said Katz.

“We want to get all that in place so that we can build residential units of one kind or another that will bring people to live downtown.”

Katz said the project is powered by the vast potential of northern Alberta’s robust resource-based economy and soaring population growth. “By 2041, we’ll have six-and-a-quarter to six-and-a-half million people — two-thirds in northern Alberta. That’s our market.”

Phase 2 of the district will be developed on what is now eight acres north of the arena.

Katz said there is high demand from tenants and buyers for the district’s commercial and residential components.

“We’ve answered that question by leasing already a million square feet of office,” Katz said, adding that 5,500 Stantec and city employees will be on site every work day.

“(The offices) bring the people down to the mixed-use district and then we bring the services and the retail and the whole point behind all of this is to build a development that people want to live in. If this development doesn’t bring people downtown to live, we’ve failed.”

The City of Edmonton tower is 75 per cent leased, Stantec 80 per cent leased and 60-70 per cent of the 200,000 square feet of retail space is already spoken for.

“We’re demanding a high rent, we’re looking for higher rents than you’ll probably see in the rest of the city, but we’re getting them,” Durstling said.

“You’re going to see well in excess of four million people a year through the plaza in foot traffic. … What we can offer the retailers is very unique.”

Katz said when he bought the Oilers in 2008, he decided to use the need for a new arena to develop “something special” for downtown Edmonton.

“This is what makes me tick,” Katz said. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do something special for everybody.”

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.